The job of tire pressure monitoring systems is to monitor vehicle tire inflation and issue warnings if the pressure in the vehicle tires drops below a prescribed value. This is intended to ensure the operational reliability of vehicles on the one hand, and their economic and fuel-efficient operation on the other.
Vehicle tires heat up during operation, causing the pressure inside them to rise. Therefore, the required tire pressure is higher when the tires are hot as compared to when the tires are cold. This poses the problem to the driver when measuring the pressure of a hot tire of whether the measured pressure corresponds to the one required without knowing the exact current tire temperature and how the pressure depends on it in the heated state, which is also called hot air pressure. In general, the driver only knows the required pressure in the cold state, which is also called cold air pressure, for example which is printed on a sticker inside the vehicle and/or can be gleaned from the operating manual.
Known from DE 102 37 699 A1 is to measure the actual temperature in the vehicle tires by means of the temperature sensors arranged in the vehicle tires and use the latter to convert preset desired pressures at a reference temperature (e.g., cold tires) into desired pressures at the actual temperature. The desired pressure at the actual temperature is imparted to the driver. However, proceeding in this way presumes that each vehicle tire has temperature sensors.
Therefore, at least object is to indicate a method and a device for automatically monitoring tire pressure in a vehicle, which makes it possible to reliably monitor the tire pressure with little technical outlay. At least another object of the invention beyond that is to indicate a method for displaying information about the inflation of a vehicle tire, which makes it possible to inform the driver in an especially easy to understand way when a vehicle tire needs to be inflated. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.